Relive Onward State’s Road Trip To Baltimore
Wait…this isn’t a soccer highway journey?
This previous weekend, Penn State males’s basketball headed south to Baltimore, Maryland, for a neutral-site matchup with Virginia Tech. The Nittany Lions and Hokies confronted off as a part of the Basketball Corridor of Fame Collection.
With the Attraction Metropolis solely a three-hour drive south of State School, 4 of our staffers made the journey to cowl the sport. Onward State hardly ever covers away video games for any sport in addition to soccer, so most of our “highway journey recap” articles are about soccer highway journeys, however we had a lot enjoyable on this little journey, that we figured we’d share the story.
Friday
Wanting to provide ourselves loads of time, we opted for a morning departure from State School. Aidan, Keeley, and I picked up Michael from his class on the Enterprise Constructing round 10:30 a.m., and we hit the highway from there.
Just a few hours of singing Philip Philips karaoke made the drive go by quick, and earlier than we knew it, we have been crossing into Maryland.
Our first cease was a enjoyable one. Famed Irish brewing firm Guinness has a brewery in Baltimore — who knew? The Guinness Open Gate Brewery in Baltimore is likely one of the brewery’s solely areas outdoors of Eire and certainly one of solely two in the USA.
As we pulled into the car parking zone, the three 21-plus-year-old staffers have been giddy. Sadly for 19-year-old Michael, he must accept having fun with the ambiance. The skin space was embellished for the autumn however was seemingly closed for the winter season.
As soon as we received inside, we poked across the reward store, making an attempt to not spend an excessive amount of cash, earlier than getting seated at a desk for a chunk to eat and some pints of black gold.
Michael and I each received the crab cake sandwich to eat. When in Maryland, proper? It was very costly, however I can’t complain as a result of it was superior. The chipotle aioli on high was wonderful. Keeley received a sandwich and Aidan received a salad. Let’s be trustworthy, we weren’t there for the meals.
I’ve received to say, the beer was scrumptious. Of any beer I’ve ever had, Guinness most likely has the widest vary in high quality relying on varied components (how effectively it’s poured, draught or bottle, and so on.). Keeley, Aidan, and I loved our pints whereas our underage good friend Michael sipped on some water.
After poking across the reward store one final time, we hit the highway, sure for downtown Baltimore. We had been on the fence about whether or not to remain the evening in Baltimore or push by means of and drive dwelling after the sport, however after some deliberation over a pint of Guinness, we landed on staying the evening.
We discovered a comparatively low-cost room on the Lord Baltimore Resort, which was a lot nicer than what we paid for. The foyer was luxurious and instantly made our motley crew of school college students really feel misplaced.
The partitions had plaques itemizing notable former residents, like Babe Ruth, Amelia Earhart, and Martin Luther King Jr. Apparently, it’s one of the vital haunted motels in America, too. Possibly that’s why it was low-cost. We dropped our stuff off within the room and headed for the sector.
CFG Financial institution Enviornment, the host of the Corridor of Fame Collection, was solely a block or so from the lodge. This yr’s version of the Corridor of Fame Collection featured a doubleheader. The primary sport was Villanova vs. Virginia, a matchup that might’ve been the sport of the week about eight years in the past.
Our media credentials have been good for each video games, so Aidan and I needed to take photos of the primary sport, too. Aidan grew up as a Villanova fan, so he was significantly excited to shoot this sport. As writers, Keeley and Michael didn’t actually have a lot to do throughout the first sport aside from watch and luxuriate in.
After the primary sport was over, we used the 30-minute break to seize a chunk to eat and edit some photographs. Then, it was the Nittany Lions’ flip. Aidan and I took photographs whereas Keeley and Michael wrote articles and tweeted updates.
After the sport was over, we returned to our luxurious (and haunted) room on the Lord Baltimore Resort. Keeley and Michael wrote their post-game sidebars whereas Aidan and I watched the extremely boring Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson struggle. After everybody had finished their work for the night, all of us settled into mattress, extremely grateful we had determined to remain the evening and never drive dwelling.
Saturday
We wakened Saturday morning and customarily needed to move again to State School, however earlier than we left Baltimore, we needed to seize a chunk to eat and stroll right down to the interior harbor, Baltimore’s essential touristy space.
We grabbed a chunk to eat at Chick-fil-A for breakfast earlier than strolling previous the Nationwide Aquarium, Baltimore’s most well-known vacationer attraction. We walked alongside the waterfront on the best way again to the lodge, soaking within the harbor’s environment earlier than grabbing our luggage and hitting the highway.
We spent the experience dwelling listening to Crab Rave, much more, Philip Phillips, and the brand new Jason Kelce and Mt. Pleasure Christmas tune “Santa Drives an Astrovan.” The music as soon as once more made the drive go shortly, and earlier than we knew it, we have been again in State School. Aidan and I shall be again on the highway subsequent weekend together with the remainder of the soccer beat as we enterprise north to Minnesota.
